Birthday wishes
by Eliptical
Summary: Katniss celebrates Peeta's birthday with him, that includes Cake, paint sets, and Fluff!. oneshot(s) that take place post MJ and pre Epilouge. kind of how they "grew back together" new chapters added frequently
1. Birthday Wishes

**A/N: This is a product of pure boredom and laziness. Takes place after mockingjay but before K & P 'grew back together'. I thought this wouldv'e been cute in the book. They've become friends but things are still awkward...**

**Review plz!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games. Nor do I own anything else I write a fanfiction on...**

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_Peeta's POV :)_

After walking through the district about four times, I'm exhausted. Not just from the walking part, but just the sight of the district, bombed, broken, abandoned. It takes a lot out of you, when you know it's your fault. _Was_ it my fault?  
I sigh. I wish I could ask someone. But the streets are abandoned and silent; which makes sense at one in the morning. Eventually, Instead of circling the district again, I turn, to make my way home.

As I come up my lawn, I notice that Katniss's lights in her house were out. She usually keeps them on at night.  
I glance up. My heart picks up when I realize the lights in my room are on. _That's_ strange. They're never on. Cautiousley, I make my way up the front porch, realizing how tired I really am. Honestly, I don't even care who's in my house right now. I trugde up the stairs, my prosthetic leg catching on the last step, down the hall, and to my room. My eyes widen at what I see.

Katniss is sitting in my room, holding a box in her lap. Her eyes are underlined with dark circles,strands of her hair coming out of her braid. I stand warily at the door, and she blinks, recoidnizing me. She flushes slightly, holding the wrapped-box out in front of her,

"Happy Birthday" She mutters.

I smile and sigh in relief. So she wasn't here to kill me, just to wish me a Happy birthday; I do love her, but sometimes the tortured memories come back to surface, and occasionally I can't tell the difference. "Thanks," I say. an awkward silence follows. "Who told you it was my birthday?" I ask her, walking over. She stiffens as I sit down next to her on my bed. "Effie" I smile at her, and she hands me the box. I grin at her and pull off the top. Inside is the poorest excuse for a paint set in the history of district twelve, possibly all of Panem.  
I love it.  
I turn to her, tears in my eyes, and she looks worried, but I pull her into a tight hug. I haven't shown any affection to her since the Capitol. She is still tense for a moment before sinking into me like before. At least, I think we hugged like this before. I pull away from her, still holding her by her shoulders. "We used to hug like that before. Real or Not Real?" I think I see her ears turn pink, but she nods. "Real."

I grin at her and hug her again. "Thank you" I whisper to her. She smiles at me slightly, her ears still pink. "Do you want to really celebrate?" I ask her. She nods, uncertain. I take her by the hand, leading her downstairs. We go into the kitchen, and she stands in the doorway, while I take out the ingredients; milk, flower, eggs, a wooden spoon, a bowl. I see the relief in her eyes when she sees we're just going to bake, not whatever she was thinknig.

I crack the eggs into a bowl, add milk and flour, and set it in front of her, along with the spoon. She mixes it violently, making me laugh. She looks up, startled by my outburst. She hasn't heard me laugh in a long time, I realize. I weakly smile at her, then walk over to show her how to properly mix the batter. I hold my hands over her ice-cold ones, slowly stirring the mix. When it's finished, we pour it into a cake pan to bake.

While it cooks, we begin on the icing. It's thick and rich, and when the cake part is done I hand Katniss the spoon to lick. She grins slightly, taking it from me.  
I take the pan out of the oven, using the oven mitts given to me by my father. That seemed like ages ago, but it was only two years, right?  
When the cake is out of the oven and cooling, I glance over to Katniss, who is now using the spoon to eat the icing right out of the bowl. I laugh, and she turns to face me, her eyes widened slightly; Caught. I motion to the stove, where the desert is waiting. She nods, standig up with the bowl in her hand. She helps me pour the glaze over the cake, and after grabbing two forks, I take it to the living room, Katniss follows. We sit on the couch, and I can tell she's still a little apprehensive of me. I hand her a fork, wich she takes, and we eat.  
The cake is delicious, even moreso that Katniss helped make it. We nearly finish the whole thing, and by then, she's much more comfortable with me, and is laying against the couch cushion, close to me (well, closer than earlier, anyway.) playing with the end of her braid. She's blushing slightly, reminding me of the awkward times before the Victory Tour, when she would redden at my touch, hardly even talking to me.

I shift, making myself more comfortable. I pick up the paints from the other side of the table we're sitting near, opening the small plastic box. I take the small wooden paintbrush, making swirls in the tiny cups of paint. I hold Katniss's hand, turning her wrist and exposing the smooth underside of her arm. She has pale, rippling scars, so like my own. She almost flinches at my touch, but I don't let go. Instead, I take the paintbrush and begin to make swirls on her arms. She watches me, mezmerized, as I paint a picture on her skin. We sit like that for maybe an hour or so, until I finish.

It's a painting of the forest, camoflouged against a tree, with vines climbing up the bark. I guess I got into the painting, becuase the design travels up Katniss's arm, to where I even rolled up her sleeve to finish it. She's still staring at it in awe when I finish.  
"Pretty cool, huh?" I ask her, smiling playfully.  
She simply nods, her fingers trailing up her arm.  
I glance up at the clock above the window. 4 am. I glance downward, through the window, and grateful to see that it was still dark out. I glance hesitantly at Katniss, who is isn't looking at me, a faint blush on her cheeks.  
I want to ask her if she wants to stay with me, but then wondered if it was innaproprite since we've barely spoken. She seemes to feel the same way.

"Um...Peeta?" She asks, her voice barely audible.

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Can I-Do you want to. . .?" I smile at her; still the same old Katniss. She still isn't looking at me, so I pull her close.

"Yes." I tell her simply. We stumble through the darkness of the house, leaving the cakepan in the living room as we make our way back to my room. When we do, I lead her to my bed, holding up the blanket for her. She climbs in after me, laying tensley until I bring my hand up to stroke her hair. Her eyes widen, but eventually she does snuggle against me, and I sigh in content. I kiss the top of her head, when I'm sure she's alseep. I jump slightly when I see she's awake.

"Happy Birthday, Peeta" she murmurs.

"Thank you. You made it special."

She smiles once before drifting off, and I honestly think this was the best birthday ever

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**Awww...  
Yes, I know, I shouldv'e included Peeta's age, but where's the fun in that?**

**Anyway, REView plz! I luvs reviews :)**


	2. Geese

**Thank You guys for the reviews! :D I'm going to add more chapters of oneshots of them "growing back together", `kay?  
Yeah, I know K/P wouldn't actually do this, but oh well :)****  
So here's ch.2: Geese**

Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Hunger Games and/or the characters :(

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Peeta's POV (_again)_

When I wake, I instinctivley turn over, looking for Katniss, but like usual, she's not here. Shafts of golden light stream through the window, Illuminating where she would have been sleeping.  
She had only stayed over twice, and I stayed over at her house once. Other than that, we barely spoke to each other. I hated that I didn't know when she was suffering, when I didn't know that she was okay. I sigh and roll over again, pulling the covers off of me. I stand up, wobbling on my leg for a second, but I regain my balance and head downstairs.  
After eating breakfast, I head outside, going to tend to the primroses against her house. I water them, staring up at Katniss's bedroom window the whole time. Usually, if she's awake, she opens the window's cutrains, but they're closed. When I finish, curiosity gets the better of me, and I step up the porch to see what was going on.

After knocking on the door and there is no answer, I really become concerned. In a fit of bravery, I push open her door, calling her name.  
"Katniss! Katniss!" I hear thumping and crashing upstairs, so that's where I look first. I run through the hallway, crashing into Katniss's room, and it takes me a second to realize what's going on.  
Then I start laughing.  
Katniss looks sharply up at me, bow loaded, pointed at a bird waddling around her bed. Another one on the hedboard honks at me, flapping its wings.

"Katniss, what are you doing?" I ask her.

She return her attention back to her target, who is now flapping it's own wings and honking. "Haymitch let a bunch of freaking geese go in my freaking house!" She snaps, ready to let the arrow fly. She lets the bowstring go, but the goose flies up before the arrow can make its mark in the animal's skull. She grunts in frustration before grabbing another arrow from the sheath on her bed.

"And why did he let his geese go in your house?"

She blushes faintly, but dosen't lose her concentration. "I don't know" She mutters. The goose flaps away, letting its feathers fly. I walk past her to the bathroom, where dirty laundry scatters the floor. Three more geese sit on the edge of the bathtub. I open the window over the sink, shooing them out, watching as they awkwardly fall down, landing on the ground below, then waddle back over to Haymitch's house.  
When they're gone, I go back to Katniss's room. Somehow, the goose keeps avoiding her arrow, making her very frusturated. I enter the room, turning the point of her arrow downward. She looks up at me, confused, and I walk over to the goose. Then I see the two dead ones on the other side of the bed, arrows still through their eyes. I get the only live one out through the window, and turn my attention back to Katniss. Her hair's messed up, the circles under her eyes now look like bruises, and her clothes are wrinkled and old. Her skin grafts are peeling. She scowls at me, catching me staring at her.

"What?" she snaps

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. Why?"

"No, you're not. Go take a bath."

She looks like she might argue, but she does go, eventually. When I hear the water running, I look back at the mess she made. Her bed was tousled, the sheets and blankets on the floor, pillows everywhere, feathers still floating around. I decide to help.

After taking the blankets and pillows to the laundry room and starting a wash, a vacum up the feathers and pick up the few garnments of clothing left behind. When I'm finished I sit on her bed, the springs of the matress familiar to me.

Katniss comes out a moment later, her hair still wet and loose, only a towel wrapped around her body. "You're still here" she states. I try not to look below her neck.

She notices my blush and then realizes what she's wearing. She scowls at me through her blush, and I take the hint to leave. I wait outside the door until she comes and opens the door for me. Her hair is still loose, but it's not as wet. She's wearing a black tank top and cargo pants. She nods at me then turns to go back into her room. She sits cross-legged on her bed, side-braiding her hair, which is cut off at odd lengths at the ends. When she finishes she looks at me expectantly. "Yes?"

I can already feel the blush creeping up my neck. "Uhmm... I just thought I'd check on you."

She nods absently, looking at her hands in her lap. Then a rare smile creeps onto her lips. "Wanna get back at Haymitch, tonight?" She asks, looking at me now. I nod, unable to speak.

She grins, her face lighting up, but there's something mischevious behind it.

* * *

That evening, we're both crouching behind Haymitch's house, Katniss holding the blowhorn and confetti, me holding the bag with the bluebirds Katniss had caught this afternoon. When we see the lights go out, we wait for another ten minutes before climbing through the kitchen window. I know for a fact that Haymitch is sober, the Captiol called a few weeks ago saying that there was a back up on their shipment route near district eight.

When we're in his kitchen, I motion for Katniss to go into the living room to see where Haymitch is. It's suprising to see how clean the house is, considering Haymitch. Katniss comes back, a moment later, shaking her head. I nod and she follows me upstairs. When we're outside of his room, I turn to Katniss, nodding. She holds a hand up, telling me to wait, and steps in on silent feet. She comes back a few minutes later, holding up the knife that Haymitch always slept with. Then she nods silently mouthing, _one, two, three_

She blows the horn and I open the top of the bag, the room filled with "NYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA A" and "CRAHUAHACRAKKKWAH!" and Haymitch's loud shouting. we stop the horn and fall in a heap on top of each other on the floor, laughing. Haymitch takes a second to realize what's going on. The bluebirds are still flying around the room, shedding feathers all around us.

Haymitch looks over at us from the end of his bed, glaring at us like he wants nothing more that to kill both of us. Instead, he grabs a camera from the nightstand next to him, then begins snapping pictures of us, and then I realize he's going to blackmail us. Katniss scrambles off my chest and I crawl away from her on my back. "I'm sure Plurtarch will love these for his next special about you two" he snaps. Instantly we blush, and Haymitch cackles, I can barely make out his face in the darkness. "Oh yeah? Well have fun finding the Jabberjays later" she snaps. I smirk, Katniss isn't good at bluffing. Bluebirds look nothing like jabberjays, and Haymitch knows it. But with that, she stands up, kicking the bag of confetti on her way out, and I follow her out.

We make it back to her house, and on instinct I follow her back to her room. She stops abruptly on the last step, making me crash into her. She turns around, looking at me confused. "You're here?" she asks me. I nod, but I know what she meant. She eyes me pleadingly. she's the one who speaks first. "Do you want to stay?" she asks me. I nod, trying to cover my blush. She gives a curt nod, and turns to go into her room. Since when was this so awkward?  
She walks over to her dresser, picking out a pair of pajamas, before going into the bathroom to change. I pull off my shirt and climb into bed. Katniss comes out a minute later, wearing sweatpants and another tank top. She silently lays down next to me, pulling the blankets up to her shoulders. Whatever awkwardness that was between dissipates, and she curls up against me, nuzzling my chest and pulling her knees up.

"Goodnight" she murmurs

"Night" I reply softly.

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**:D awww...  
This is posted as another chapter and as its own oneshot, since it can be both. Review plz and next chapter should be up soon :) I appreciate ideas!**


	3. Papariazzi

**Grr, Yes, I know, I sho****uld be working on "Yes, you're sick", but I couldn't resist :) It's chapter three of 'Birthday Wishes'. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Suzanne Collin's creations. (HG or Gregor the overlander or other)**

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I sit, or rather, lay, across my couch, my feet on Peeta's lap, who is also stretched out on the opposite side of me, his feet behind me. We're watching tv, but really just relaxing. It isn't until I find footage of us that I stop flipping channels. "what's this?" I ask no one in particular. It's a video of us, possibly during the Victory Tour, relaxing on the beach in District Four. "I don't remember them filming this." I say, frowning. Had the camera crews really followed us out there? It seemed unlikely.

We're walking along the shoreline, hand in hand, still wearing our dinner clothes. I feel a ang of guilt when I see Cinna's beautiful creation of gauzy pale green over a thin white underpart of the dress. Peeta was wearing a black suit with accents that matched my dress. The footage almost seemed rehearsed, the way we're laughing and talking. You can't make out what we're saying, which I'm grateful for, since I was really just dissing the idiots whoran the train, since it kept breaking down every few districts.

I feel Peeta tense next to me. I turn and look at him, his face pale, his pupils dilated at odd sizes, sweat dops on his forehead, gripping the side of the couch with a hold like a vice. I suddenly realize he's having an episode from his poisoning. I stand up next to him, wondering what to do. Obviousley this was triggered by a memory, and I glance over to the Tv, realizing it's the footage. That's where he's looking, anyway. I take the remote and flip off the set, watch his muscles relax slightly, with his eyes closed, he starts shaking. I put my hands on his shoulders, willing him to calm down.

"Peeta, you're okay. We're in my living room, watching Tv. Remember last night? We went over to Haymith's and got back at him for letting the geese go in my house. Peeta?"

His eyes are still closed, but he nods. He unclenches his jaw, and his arms relax. I sigh with relief. He opens his eyes for just a second before pulling me into a tight hug. ''Thank you" he whispers against my cheek. It felt odd to have him hug me so forcefully, and I ignored the urge to pull away. Instead I hugged him back.

He was still the steady, calming Peeta, but his arms around me felt different, like he was tentative with holding me. That was another thing I didn't forgive the Capitol for, making Peeta unsteady and unstable. I hear a flash and pull away from Peeta, turning to see the door wide open, three camera men standing in the doorway, holding picture-cameras up to their faces. Shock, then anger raise up inside of me, and I push away from Peeta, glaring at the men before pushing them out of my house. "Get out of here!" I yell at them. They easily leave, and when I get back to the living room, Peeta is standing, and I'm furious. The phone rings a few minutes later, and I stomp off to the study, ripping the phone off the cradel, holding it to my ear. "What?" I spit.

"Katniss! So nice to hear from you!" Oh, great.  
"Plurtarch. Hi." I say dryly, since he's the last person I wanted to talk to right now.  
"It was just wonderful to get those pictures of you and Peeta!" He says cheerfully

_Haymitch..._

"Haymitch told me that you couldn't _wait_ to give them to me! Oh, and congradulations! You shouldv'e told me!" He's positivley laughing of happiness. And I shouldv'e told him what? "So, we brainstormed for a while, and we came up with the idea to do a special on you two, after four years since the rebellion! Did the camera men come?"

"Yes."

"Perfect! Now, I'd like you and Peeta to-"  
"Plurtarch," i interrupt him, "No more cameras."  
"But-"  
"None" I say, a tone of finallity to my voice. I hang up the phone, and walk back out of the study to find Peeta peeking out the window. "What are you doing?" I ask him, walking up beside him. "There's more of them outside" he says, taking a step to the side to let me see. And it's true; There's about five camera guys standing on the porch, taking pictures and holding out microphones to us. I walk away in discust, after closing the curtain on their faces. Then I get a great idea.

"Hey Peeta," I say mischeviousley.

"Yes?"

"You want to help me get rid of the camera men?"

He looks slightly uncertain, but he nods anyway. "Come on," I tell him, pulling him by the hand.

* * *

After mixing te concoction of old milk, rotten eggs and stale scotch, Peeta and I fill buckets of the stuff and climb the stairs to my room. The camera crew is still near the front door, calling our names, so they don't notice the window opening. Peeta hands me a foul-smelling sponge and cringes as the smell hits him. I grin as I turn around, to the window.

"Go away!" I shout down to them.

They look between each other, confused, until one of them with green hair shouts back, "We need footage!"

"Now?" Peeta asks them

"Yes! Come down here for an interview!"

"Leave!" I tell them, but one of them with fat, purple lips shakes her head.

"You've been warned!"

I drop the sponge, and even from up here I can smell the putrid stench. It landed with a loud _splat, _squirting all the juice it had into the air. A few of them shriek and drop their cameras, and one even runs away. "Now will you go away?" Peeta asks

The green-haired one gives me the look, the same one effie used when I ate my dinner with my fingers, the dissaproving pursed-lips. "Plurtarch will not be happy about this" I pick up the blowhorn that we used last night, and let the loud screech fill the silence. Green-hair glares at us, then stomps away. Peeta and I fall onto my bed, laughing as much as we did yesterday, and in the same position, me on top of him. I jerk my head up from where it rested against his neck, startled, realizing where I was. Peeta and I were barely friends, nothing more. This kind of ruined the whole 'only friendship' thing, so I scramble off of him. He realizes this too, and clears his throat. There's an awkward silence before a slurred knock at the door. I hop off the bed and make my way downstairs, Peeta right behind me.

Haymitch stands in the kitchen, after letting himself in, digging through the fridge. I sit on the counter, arms crossed over my chest. "Haymitch, what do you want?" I ask bluntly.

"Hey sweethearts, you enjoy the paparazzi?" He bumps his head as he pulls out a bottle of liquor from the fridge, then takes a swig of it. He chuckles lightly. "I told Plurtarch you guys were getting married." Oh. So that's what Plurtarch was talking about.

"_What?_ Haymitch, It was just one prank!"

"Hm, well maybe next time you should wait until I'm drunk" he slurrs, the alchahol already getting to him. "Fine" I mutter.

"And-" He adds, "Maybe you both shouldn't be upstairs in you're bedroom if you dont...want to give them the wrong idea" Can someone really get drunk that fast?

"_And_, lock you're door, if you're gonna-"

"Haymitch! We werent..."

"_Right._ Thanks for the booze" he says, laughing to himself as he leaves.

Sometimes, he's just too much. But at least we don't have to worry about Plurtarch's cameras anymore.

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**The ending isn't the best, but oh well. Haha, Haymitch... **

**Okay, next chapter will be up soon. This is really fun to write!**

**xoxoxox Review Plz xoxoxoxox**


	4. Swimming

**XD I just read all 3 chapters out loud, and I reeeally wanted to add this one! It matches the weather here in SoCal perfectly. Jeez today it was 104 degrees. :) review plz!**

**Disclamer: I'm not Suzanna Collins. I don't own the hunger games :*(**

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Katniss's POV

Today, Peeta is eating breakfast with me. Greasy Sae stopped coming over to cook, so I have to cook for myself now. We're eating my most complex deliacacy: Burnt toast and fruit. We haven't really done anything useful for the past three days, and I was getting restless. I set down my apple.

"Peeta?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go swimming?"

He sort of jerks his head up to look at me. "Seriousley?" He asks me. "Yeah. It's hot enough." I say, gesturing outside, where it indeed, was ninety degrees outside. He takes a moment to think about it. "Sure" he says, looking thoughtfully at his toast. Ten minutes later, Peeta meets me in front of my house, holding a bath towel and a flask of water. I'm holding the same, but I'm wearing shorts and a tank top. He's wearing a t-shirt and shorts. The heat had risen, and sweat dripped down my back. I nod at him, and begin walking toward the woods.

We make it to the fence in record time, since the sun is forcing us to move faster. I crawl under hole in the chain link fence, Peeta following. It takes three times as long to get to the lake, with Peeta's slow tread and my lack of exhertion, and when we finally make it to the cool body of water, I collapse on a rock nearby and take a long drink of my water. Then I come to another problem. I don't have a bathing suit, and I don't own one. I glance over at Peeta. I don't think he has one, either. Why didn't I think of this before? Usually when I came to the lake, I swam naked, but obviousley that's not going to happen with Peeta here. I settle for just wearing my undergarnments, because by then, it's so hot that I just want to get in the water. Peeta's investigating the cement house, noting the pile of firewood stacked neatly by the fireplace. He comes back out, glancing at me before turning back to the house.

"You used to come here with your father?" he asks me

"Yeah. When I was little... We used to hunt here and gather Katniss roots." I smile at the memory. Peeta nods, satisfyed.

"You want to go in now?" I ask him. He nods. He turns around, letting me undress. When I'm done, I splash into the water, and Peeta takes the hint to come in. He just ears his shorts in, and paddles around like I used to. I tread the water in the deeper end, and Peeta follows me. He smiles as he dips his face in, coming back up a second later, blowing water in the air from his mouth. I laugh and go back under, swimming beneath the water and coming up a few yards away.

We swim for another hour or so, but by then we're both so tired we can barely make it home. We flop onto my couch, and are both asleep in a matter of seconds. I'm grateful that the couch is so wide ir I'd have been crushed by Peeta.

I do end up waking in the middle of the night, from a nightmare. I don't really remember it, but I know it had something to do with Avoxes and Jabberjays. I was so grateful that Peeta didn't go home, his strong arms here to comfort me. He calmed me down so I stopped thrashing in my sleep, then spoke calming words until I drifted off again. It felt good to have him here with me again, and I thought, Sometimes, nightmares aren't so bad.

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**:( I know it's short, but Oh well. Oh! I know a girl who reminds me of that avox from the book, so I call her lavinna. I'm so clever ohohohohoho (jk...) **

**I appreciate reviews and ideas for the next chapter! :)**


	5. Scars

**I was watching the Lion King (again) and somehow Scar influenced me to write this. Fifth chapter of "Birthday Wishes"**

**Summary: Katniss feels guilty for pointing out Peeta's scars, so she shows him that they are the same.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Katniss's POV

It is another warm day. Summer has just ended, the District beginning to cool off. Greasy Sae just dropped by, to make breakfast, which was rare now. I think today was just a friendly gesture, or maybe something else, because she kept smiling at Peeta and me, escpecally when we're together. She waves as she leaves, not bothering to say if or when she'll be back.

I walk over to the living room, then half sit, half lay across the couch, waiting for Peeta to join me, while I watch some Capitol person talk about the hard times being faced in the Capitol right now. He does, after a moment, carrying a glass of water, which he sits on the coffee table. I move my legs under me so he can sit. He takes the spot, and where his hand sits on the arm rest, I can clearly see scars, paler than his fair skin, in slashes across his wrist. Clearly mot from the fire.

"What happened to your wrists?" I ask him whithout thinking.

My hands invoulentarily come up to cover my mouth, and Peeta takes a moment to close his eyes and exhale slowly. Alarm rushes through me. Did I go too far? Had I triggered some memory left by the Capitol?

No. He exhales showly, then looking at his scars as if this is the first time he sees them, turning his wrist this way and that, examining them. whithout looking at me he replies, "I think they're from the handcuffs"

"Oh."

The handcuffs used to restrain him from killing himself, or me, or someone else on our squad. The handcuffs he dug his skin into, keeping the memories at bay, the ones I used as example when I twisted my medical bracelet around and around, trying to keep myself sane.

I glance back over at Peeta, who has now covered up his wrists with his shirtsleeves, either ashamed or trying to forget the memories.

* * *

A few hours later, when we're in bed, I'm still thinknig about earlier; how embarassed he was about his wrists. After a while I can't take it. "Peeta," I say, sitting up on the matress, the moonlight from the open window illuminating Peeta's blonde hair.

"Yeah?"

"You know that you're not the only one with scars, right?"

Peeta nods, somewhat hesitantly, and I sigh. "You don't believe me." I think he shakes his head, confirming my suspiciouns. I crawl closer to him, then hitch up the hem of my shirt a few inches. I see Peeta jump a little in suprise. I take his hand, and lead it to the soft, rippled skin of my stomach. "See?" I ask him. He nods, somewhat in awe. I guide his fingers up my arm, my skin more damaged as I come up to my neck.

"We're the same" I clarify, just in case he didn't get my point.

He nods again, still brushing my shoulders and arms. after a while I lay back down, trying to ignore the tingling feeling across my damaged skin where he had touched me, and manage to fall asleep.

* * *

**Boo..too short. Oh well, you get the point :P **

**Ok, I decided: I will take requests for stories (yaay)**

R**eViEw PlEaSe :P**


	6. First kiss

**Hooray its my 18th story :D ps. I'm probably going to add chapters less often now , but i'll try to keep adding one shots :P**

**Title: first kiss**

**summary: can't tell ya ;P  
Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Peeta's POV

Today was the first time since I returned from the Capitol that I went into the woods.  
Katniss invited me to gather some herbs for tonight's dinner; a soup that Greasy Sae had just found from the old Hob. The air is cooler, cooler than it's been all week. My feet crunch along the gravel that now coats the streets, instead of the previous dirt roads.

Katniss treads silently in front of me, carrying a basket and her bow. We make it to the fence in minutes, scooting under the worn metal of the gate, until we're in the cover of the thick trees. Katniss looks over at me. "Do you have the list?" she asks quietly. I nod and somewhat clumsily hand her the thin piece of yellowed paper, Greasy Sae's messy handwriting scribbling plant names in a list. Katniss gives a nod of thanks and skims over the list. She murmurs a plant name and gestures for me to follow her.

I nearly trip to catch up with her. I don't know why it's so awkward for me to be around her. Maybe because she showed me her vulnerability? because I honestly think she cares about me? Because she gets prettier every day? I don't know.

I follow her through the trees, stepping over rocks and through tiny, dry stream beds until she stops abruptly, making me almost crash into her. She glances back at me before kneeling down to inspect a small tuft of chives, sitting close to a small stream.

"I don't know why she sent us out here to gather these when they sell perfectly good ones in the market place" she mutters, digging them out by the roots. She hands me the basket while she scoops more of the dirt surrounding the plants to reach the roots below. She tosses all of the plants into the basket, and takes the list out again. She mutters another name, glancing around for a moment before pointing to our far left. We come up to a wide clearing dotted with small dark brown shrubs dotting the edges of the dirt.

She walks over to the nearest one, digging in the leaves until she pulls out dark green leaves that I don't remember learning about.

"Theretis" she explaines, seeing my puzzlement.

"Oh."

We gather for about an hour, collecting garlic, thyme, other plants I don't know, and when we're done, the large basket overflowing with the plants. On top of the greens lay two squirrels, and katniss carries three rabbits by their hind legs, dead, with arrows still through their eyes. She lazily swings them back and forth as we walk. After a while of silence, I decide to break it.

"Katniss," I begin.

"Hm?"

"Uhm... How are you? Any bad nightmares?"

Her face flushes. "No." she replies softly. We walk in silence for a while until we reach the gate once more. She scurries under, relieving me of the basket before I follow.

We get to Greasy Sae's a few minutes later, giving her the rabbits and squirrels also. She thanks us, giving Katniss a look that makes her blush when she looks back at me. We go back to her home in silence, she goes into her living room while I get some leftover cheese buns from this morning.

I set the plate in front of her, watching her gratefully devour the bread. She looks escpecially pretty today, her cheeks flushed from the cool autum air and her loose hair curly from her braid.

She must've noticed me staring because she abruptly stops and looks up at me. I feel my face redden in embrarassment. "What?" she asks, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "Nothing" I reply sheepishly, taking a bun from the plate and taking a small bite. She looks up at me when she's finished. "Do you want to go outside?" I look at her face, confused. She did look a bit restless, so I shrug, and stand up. I follow her outside, where she immedietly goes around to the back of the house, where the Capitol-green grass stretches across the landscape.

She grins at me, a rare thing for her to do anymore. "Race me?" she asks

I smile and nod, but I already know she's going to win. "Ready? Go!" she says quickly, then takes off, her braid whipping behind her. I'm in a daze for a moment before running after her, and I realize catching up to her isn't as easy as I'd thought It'd be.

I finally catch her, although she might've been slowing on purpose. I grab her around the waist, tackling her to the ground. I laugh, crouching over her, and she looks stunned for a moment before laughing back. After a second, she slips out from under me, taking off again. After i catch her twice more, she gives up. Still breathless, I pull her to her feet, and we walk over to the nearest tree, a willow near another empty Victor's Village house.

She leans against my shoulder, trying to catch her breath from her sprint. She stayes there long after she regains her breath, and I take the chance to regain our previous friendship. "...What's your favorite food?" I ask her. She looks up at me quizzically. "...Um,...Lamb stew or cheese buns I guess." after a pause she adds, "What about you?" I close my eyes, trying to remember. "Hm...I don't know" she looks back up at me, concerned.  
"You don't remember?" She asks  
"No. What is it?" I ask her, frowning in confusion.  
"...I don't know. You never told me." she admits.

"Do you want to play real or not real?" she asks me, trying to lighten the mood. I nod; we haven't played it in a while, but sometimes it helped.

"Prim had a pet goat"

"Real"

"You ran away with Gale but were brought back by Peacekeepers"

"Not real"

"Seneca Crane is dead"

"Real"

"I lived alone in the Victor's Village"

"Real"

"You knew about the rebel's plans"

"Not real"

"District Twelve harvested apples in the autum"

"Real"

"I was your first kiss"

She looks up at me, suprised, and after a moment of registering what I said, her cheeks turn slightly pink. "Real" she mumbles. She leans back against the tree again, me continuing asking questions; _What was Madge's last name? Where did the old school used to stand? What was Beete's trap again? What color was my suit in District six?_

When the conversation begins to get back to my torture, I stop talking, trying to avoid another episode or bringing back bad memories and ruining our relativley good day. I haven't had a bad day in a while, and Dr. Aureilius has stopped asking me the last time I had an episode was. When the sun begins to set behind the horizon, I stand up, pulling Katniss up behind me by her hand, and we head home, walking at a slow pace so that when we make it home it's already dark.

Apparently, the short run had really taken it's tole on Katniss, since she's already yawning right after dinner. I guide her by the hand up to our room, whispering to her she should change before she got into bed. She nods sleepily, grabbing an over-sized T shirt off my dresser and not even bothering to shut the bathroom door behind her.

I roll on my side under the covers, facing the window, which is closed tonight, becuase of the cold breeze. Katniss crawls under the covers a moment later, her hair loose on her back and across the pillows. She curls up against me, her scarred legs thin and frail against her chest. She still looks very tired, but she keeps her eyes open and plays with the corner of my shirtsleeve.

"Peeta?" she asks quielty

". . .Hm?"

"I'm glad you were my first kiss"

"Me too"

She giggles softly, snuggling deeper into her pillow, still smiling when she falls asleep.

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**Haha, I tricked you! You thought they were going to kiss, huh? Too bad! (jk...)**

**Review Plz :P**


	7. Playful

**I think there need to be more fanfics like this. Just sayin..*hint*hint* -story takes place a few weeks into autum. K/P are "close friends" ;P**

**Summary/Warnings: not enough fluff, if you ask me. Meh.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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_Peeta's POV_

When I drift back to wakefullness, It takes me a second to register the bright, grey eyes beaming just inches away from mine, the long dark hair tickling my face.  
"Good Morning" Katniss says, kissing my forehead. These actions have become more and more common, although she still hasn't kissed me on the lips yet. Too soon, I guess.

I smile weakly and rub my eyes with my hand. "Morning" I reply to her, sitting up. She sits cross-legged on her side of the bed, hair mussed and faint dark circles under each eye. Her nightshirt is wrinkled, and she's not wearing any shorts, just like every night. Today her smiling face-a completley rare thing-almost makes her scars seem less noticable.

She leans into me, kissing my nose. Okay, not that I didn't like getting kissed, but this was getting too weird. Two kisses? She must notice my confusion becuase then she looks worried. "Peeta? What's wrong?"

I shake my head to clear it. "Nothing" i say, smiling. I decided to savor the moments when she was like this; playful and happy. I lay down my head on the pillows, bringing Katniss down with me. We lie facing each other, and I fiddle with the end of her braid, taking off the elastic that confines the dark locks. She playfully nuzzles my shoulder, making me sigh in content. Why couldn't she be like this every day?

''Now ain't that cute'' we both quickly turn towards the doorway where Haymitch stands, fingers locked around a bottle of liqour, his clothes wrinkled but not visibly dirty.

"Haymitch!" Katniss hisses.

"What, Sweetheart?"

"What're you doing here?"

"I could ask the same thing to the boy" he slurrs, looking pointedly at me, complete with eyebrows raised expectantly. I feel the blush creeping up my cheeks, but Katniss speaks for me. "None of your business! Now get out!" Honestly, Katniss, that wasn't the best come back. I turn to Haymitch, glaring (or as close to a glare as my face can get) and trying to get him to take a hint and leave. Damn him, runining the "Fun Katniss".

He chuckles at our matching expressions, but then leaves whithout another word.

I sigh in frustation. Well _that_ ruined my day so far.

Katniss sighs after me, curling up against me and tucking her head under my chin, and I feel my heart jump. Whenever Haymitch made a "comment" Katniss wouldn't come near me for at least a day, either out of embarassment or anger at Haymitch.

But right now, she was still here, with me, and that was all that really mattered.

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**Yeesh, It's way. too. short. Oh well.  
HAI PEEPS:: Review with ideas for a new idea for a new oneshot (details on my profile- not enough room here)**

**Review plz :D**


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